Steph Gratiano ’20
Ringing He realized the ringing in his ears was actually a ringing in the whole arena, the buzzer loud enough to cajole the plexiglass into emitting a hum of its own, harmonizing with the fan’s angry groans behind him and the glass vibrating still from the force of the slam. His nose emitted a buzz of its own, the nexus of a swarm of concerned medics dabbing at the blood oozing from his nostril. He batted them away. The buzzer he missed hadn’t ended the game, only the period, and he needed to get back. He could be subbed in at the next opportunity. “—Hey, hey, Sammy, you good?” Coach Josten’s salt and pepper stubble loomed into his field of vision, calloused fingers darting over his temple. The buzzer stopped abruptly, but the energy persisted in the figures flying across the ice, the furious tapping and sliding marking the victory cries of the blurs in black and the slow whine against the ice as players caught their edges and flew. Black, white, fading red. He blinked, once, twice. Wasn’t that a punchline to something? What’s black and white and bled all over— Coach Josten’s hand on his shoulder nudged him back to reality. No, that was just him. His forehead, actually. He doesn’t remember taking his gloves off, but his hands were bare and pale and came away bloody from the oozing gash by his temple. Coach jostled him again, gentler than usual but insistent. “You’re going to the clinic after we get back, you understand—” “Put me back on, it’s fine.” Coach laughed, an incredulous noise forced from somewhere in the back of his throat in lieu of a response. He stared evenly at the spot between those graying eyebrows, waiting for the ice to stop panning in and out of focus. “God, Sammy, you lost consciousness. Hopefully, you aren’t so brain damaged you thought they’d let me put you back in after that.” Coach shook his head and took off his hat, pushing perspiration and relief back through his hair before repositioning it. “Clinic. After. For now, just sit tight.” The last period ended with more ringing in his ears, this time from his teammates’ cheers of a job well done. It was a decisive Lions’ victory, a 49
